Are HYPHENS destroying America? (1 Viewer)

[DeeJayH]

Do you think that all these people running around declaring themselves hyphenated are destroying america

African-American or
Italian-American or

Mrs. Smith-Goldblatt or

Br-Angelina :doh
etc,etc.,etc.....

Are we not all Americans First and foremost?
myself i am pretty fed up with hyphens

 

[talloulou]

Do you think that all these people running around declaring themselves hyphenated are destroying america

African-American or
Italian-American or

Mrs. Smith-Goldblatt or

Br-Angelina :doh
etc,etc.,etc.....

Are we not all Americans First and foremost?
myself i am pretty fed up with hyphens

I don't know it's not such a big deal. But it is interesting that only certain people do it. You don't hear Irish-American or Italian American nearly as much as you hear Asian American or African American. The only one that makes absolute sense to me is Native American because they really have separate nations in America so to speak. What's interesting is I heard an illegal alien from Mexico on TV claiming he has as much right to the label American as anyone living in the US. I thought that was funny 'cause it's true. American doesn't actually mean from the US. But we seem to use it that way.

 

[Calm2Chaos]

I don't know it's not such a big deal. But it is interesting that only certain people do it. You don't hear Irish-American or Italian American nearly as much as you hear Asian American or African American. The only one that makes absolute sense to me is Native American because they really have separate nations in America so to speak. What's interesting is I heard an illegal alien from Mexico on TV claiming he has as much right to the label American as anyone living in the US. I thought that was funny 'cause it's true. American doesn't actually mean from the US. But we seem to use it that way.

If I was living a couple hundred years ago then maybe you have a point. But "today" American means just that your were either born in this country or are a legal citizen. If neither is true then you are not an american but you are a criminal.

I think the use of hyphens in many aspects in todays age is used to drive a wedge between a group and the country. It's a tool to polarize people and make them choose a side in most cases

 

[DeeJayH]

If I was living a couple hundred years ago then maybe you have a point. But "today" American means just that your were either born in this country or are a legal citizen. If neither is true then you are not an american but you are a criminal.

I think the use of hyphens in many aspects in todays age is used to drive a wedge between a group and the country. It's a tool to polarize people and make them choose a side in most cases

yet you do not think it is a big deal?
that is exactly what i am talking about
instead of being Americans first, seems alot of people are hypens
and instead of unifying we are being divided
Divided we fall

 

[mikhail]

the thing i feel about it is that asia and africa are pretty big places i mean there is a pretty big cultural difference between someone who is from afganistan and someone orginated from china.

Its meaningless really the average irish american , asian american etc would be lost living in the culture of the place they orginated.

I think its better not to group people together so much it encourages people to view a group overall rather than the individuals within.I think it contributes to racial stereotypes.

 

[goligoth]

the thing i feel about it is that asia and africa are pretty big places i mean there is a pretty big cultural difference between someone who is from afganistan and someone orginated from china.

Its meaningless really the average irish american , asian american etc would be lost living in the culture of the place they orginated.

I think its better not to group people together so much it encourages people to view a group overall rather than the individuals within.I think it contributes to racial stereotypes.

I agree...but if you look at the flip side they are preserving their heritage...they don't want to lose what they were even at the cost of what they are, if that makes any sense what-so-ever...

what do you propose we do to stop these dastardly hyphens? they have the colons on their side....and I just don't feel right attacking the colon...:doh

 

[earthworm]

Times eradicates this "hyphen" business.
But for the black or the Afro-American this process will take hundreds of years, maybe a thousand years.
For the Asian - about two or three generations..
The PC crowd and their supporters are making a big mistake by encouraging the Mexican-Americans to retain their language..

 

[Calm2Chaos]

yet you do not think it is a big deal?
that is exactly what i am talking about
instead of being Americans first, seems alot of people are hypens
and instead of unifying we are being divided
Divided we fall

What do you mean. I voted yes and everything I said pointed to the fact that it's bad for the country. Your American first as far as I'm concerned...........

 

[Calm2Chaos]

I agree...but if you look at the flip side they are preserving their heritage...they don't want to lose what they were even at the cost of what they are, if that makes any sense what-so-ever...

what do you propose we do to stop these dastardly hyphens? they have the colons on their side....and I just don't feel right attacking the colon...:doh

I don't think the hyphen has anything to do with there heritage. Are they going to lose it if there just Americans? Your an American first and formost. Nobody says you can't be proud of your heritage. But the truth is this is your country and this is your home. Time to start making your own traditions

 

[The Mark]

I voted Yes.

But blaming hyphens alone is incorrect. Who implemented the use of said hyphens? They are too blame.

It is my opinion that those who started this use of hyphens are the following, working together in many cases.

Some politicians.

Some of the news media.

Various special interest groups and the like.

What do they get out of doing this?

The politicians get the chance to cater to one or the other group that they have created, giving them chances to gain votes or take votes away from others.

The news media gets chances to accuse various well-known persons of being racist and related things, have stories suggesting police unfairness, etc, etc, etc. In short, they have more news to report.

The special interest groups (at least the leaders of said groups) get political power, people to follow them, money (donations, grants from the government, etc.), etc, etc.

If you look at all these things, and others that I might not have noticed, you can see (this is my opinion) that the various political groups that Americans have been divided into are causing and have caused many (if not all) of the problems in this country.

 

[vibeeleven]

I voted Yes.

But blaming hyphens alone is incorrect. Who implemented the use of said hyphens? They are too blame.

.

Special interest groups and the femenist movement. Political correctness run amok and every stupid little group wanting to have it both ways by being "equal" yet taking every opportunity to point out differences. The hypocrisy of these people is asanine.

 

[shuku]

They can call themselves whatever they'd like. It's a way of describing their physical and cultural background in a small phrase. Whether people want to aggregate or disciminate, it's their choice. If you want something to worry about, I would point out the abuses of the ellipses, especially ones with more than three periods.

 

[The Mark]

They can call themselves whatever they'd like. It's a way of describing their physical and cultural background in a small phrase. Whether people want to aggregate or discriminate, it's their choice. If you want something to worry about, I would point out the abuses of the ellipses, especially ones with more than three periods.

Yes, it is indeed their choice. But who suggested that choice to them?

Who would benefit from dividing people up into groups by race, sex, and place of origin?

Who is to blame for telling people that they belong to one group or another (maybe more than one?), convincing them that said group is more important then the other groups they were already a part of (namely, American, or, to be even more general, person)?

Also, why do people go along with this division? Because whoever told them that they were part of a separate group told them that they were better because they were part of it. Or, that other groups had it better than theirs, so they had to get things evened out.

So, these groups that people have divided themselves up into (with the help of various entities which I mentioned in an earlier post).....IMO, they are creating tears in the fabric of our American culture.

What they should be doing is adding color and texture to the fabric of American culture.

 

[DeeJayH]

What do you mean. I voted yes and everything I said pointed to the fact that it's bad for the country. Your American first as far as I'm concerned...........

well you threw me a curve ball with the following quote

If I was living a couple hundred years ago then maybe you have a point.

but i am guessing it was in response to talloulou's quote

I don't know it's not such a big deal.

and i just missed the connection

 

[DeeJayH]

the various political groups that Americans have been divided into are causing and have caused many (if not all) of the problems in this country.

I think you would ahve a hard time finding somebody to disagree with that observation

 

[mixedmedia]

Yes, it is indeed their choice. But who suggested that choice to them?

Who would benefit from dividing people up into groups by race, sex, and place of origin?

Who is to blame for telling people that they belong to one group or another (maybe more than one?), convincing them that said group is more important then the other groups they were already a part of (namely, American, or, to be even more general, person)?

Also, why do people go along with this division? Because whoever told them that they were part of a separate group told them that they were better because they were part of it. Or, that other groups had it better than theirs, so they had to get things evened out.

So, these groups that people have divided themselves up into (with the help of various entities which I mentioned in an earlier post).....IMO, they are creating tears in the fabric of our American culture.

What they should be doing is adding color and texture to the fabric of American culture.

Where is the implication that someone thinks they are better because they acknowledge their heritage? Maybe they are just proud of it. And if anyone thinks there is any lack of ancestral pride in the Irish community, I suggest you check out a little holiday called St. Patrick's Day. Shall we do away with that one? Cinco de Mayo.....or is it that as long as the acknowledgement includes the consumption of much beer that it's okay?

Personally, I don't know why someone would care what another person chooses to call themselves. It seems a little petty and reactionary.....

 

[talloulou]

Where is the implication that someone thinks they are better because they acknowledge their heritage? Maybe they are just proud of it. And if anyone thinks there is any lack of ancestral pride in the Irish community, I suggest you check out a little holiday called St. Patrick's Day. Shall we do away with that one? Cinco de Mayo.....or is it that as long as the acknowledgement includes the consumption of much beer that it's okay?

Personally, I don't know why someone would care what another person chooses to call themselves. It seems a little petty and reactionary.....

I don't think it's a big deal what people want to call themselves. I do think it's BS that I'm constantly being asked on government forms to check whether I am white, African-American, Asian-american, native-American, or Latino. What's up with that? First why do they care? And second if they do care then why pick out certain groups to label while dumping a bunch of others in the white pile? And how come the government forms never say white-American or caucasion-American? Are they trying to insinuate whitey ain't American? Or are you automatically an American when you're white?

When I'm applying for a mortgage why is it necessary for me to label myself and if there is a legitimate reason then how come they don't have boxes for Irish Americans or German Americans? And what the hell is the point anyway 'cause so many people today are mixed and don't fit neatly under those headings anyway. And how much of my tax money is being wasted to pay morons to analyize this stupid data the government collects on so many forms???? Hmmmmmmmm?

If my neighbor wants to be referred to as an African American that's fine by me. But why is the government so interested in how my neighbor wants to be labeled?? It's not as if which box you check means something. Sometimes I check the wrong boxes just because I'm insulted by the question and by the fact that my catagory....white.....is vague and boring. I've never had anyone say, "excuse me you can't check that box." No one would dare. So I can happily check whatever box I feel so inclined to check. I should be able to check an irish or a german box. And wouldn't most people need one of those combo-boxes? Shouldn't they have boxes that ask if you're a mongrel or purebred? I mean if we're gonna get crazy in the name of political correctness we should go all out, right?

 

[mixedmedia]

I don't think it's a big deal what people want to call themselves. I do think it's BS that I'm constantly being asked on government forms to check whether I am white, African-American, Asian-american, native-American, or Latino. What's up with that? First why do they care? And second if they do care then why pick out certain groups to label while dumping a bunch of others in the white pile? And how come the government forms never say white-American or caucasion-American? Are they trying to insinuate whitey ain't American? Or are you automatically an American when you're white?

When I'm applying for a mortgage why is it necessary for me to label myself and if it is legitimate for some reason then how come they don't have boxes for Irish Americans or German Americans? And what the hell is the point anyway 'cause so many people today are mixed and don't fit neatly under those headings anyway. And how much of my tax money is being wasted to pay morons to analyize this stupid data the government collects on so many forms???? Hmmmmmmmm?

If my neighbor wants to be referred to as an African American that's fine by me. But why is the government so interested in how my neighbor wants to be labeled?? It's not as if which box you check means something. Sometimes I check the wrong boxes just because I'm insulted by the question and by the fact that my catagory....white.....is vague and boring. I should be able to check an irish or a german box. And wouldn't most people need one of those combo-boxes? Shouldn't they have boxes that ask if you're a mongrel or purebred. I mean if we're gonna get crazy in the name of political correctness we should go all out, right?

Well, I know in the case of a mortgage application it is because of a history of discrimination by lenders, but true, you would think that no little box would be more conducive to fairness when someone is analyzing an application. I don't know.....those little boxes don't bother me and neither does being lumped in with all the other white people. It just doesn't fall into the realm of my concern.....people are different.

 

[talloulou]

Well, I know in the case of a mortgage application it is because of a history of discrimination by lenders, but true, you would think that no little box would be more conducive to fairness when someone is analyzing an application. I don't know.....those little boxes don't bother me and neither does being lumped in with all the other white people. It just doesn't fall into the realm of my concern.....people are different.

You know I use to be an advocate for victims of sexual assualt at the hospital. And those boxes were on the forms we'd fill out. In order to get goverment money to fund our program we had to fill out these goverment forms but the patients were allowed to keep their names confidential. So the government form wouldn't actually have a name it would have a number and other information like gender, age, and then those little race boxes. Well I never was comfortable asking a person which box they were! I mean these people were sexually assualted who gives a **** which box they are? I don't know maybe the people wouldn't have cared but there was no way I was going to lower myself to ask such a ridiculous question at such a ridiculous time. The government could kiss my assss. Nor was I going to guess and just think hmmmmmm well this person looks like whatever race box to me (that's what most of the other advocates did). That seemed ridiculous too. But the boxes had to be filled out or we didn't get paid so I'd get yelled at if I left them blank. So I just kept track and rotated the boxes evenly. Didn't matter what the individuals were...I never asked them and I never guessed. I just checked off the box whose turn it was and we got our funding. Though it probably screwed up studies like are blacks raped more than mexicans or are whites raped more? Oh and they had a box for the person who did the assualting too. So they expected me to ask the victim if they knew what race the attacker was. Total BS. I filled those boxes out in an orderly rotation too. Bunch of crap as far as I can tell.

 

[FallingPianos]

its not a big deal. people can be proud of their non-american heritage without being unamerican.

 

[HTColeman]

Do you think that all these people running around declaring themselves hyphenated are destroying america

African-American or
Italian-American or

Mrs. Smith-Goldblatt or

Br-Angelina :doh
etc,etc.,etc.....

Are we not all Americans First and foremost?
myself i am pretty fed up with hyphens

Yes we are Americans first and foremost, but I don't think hyphenations discourage that so much as describe it. For example, a red car is foremost a car but it is a red car. The argument that African-American is misleading as many blacks are not from Africa is weak in my opinion. One, the African community in America is not so big as to cause any confusion, two, 99% of Americans know exactly what what one is talking about when you say African-American.

Also, I don't think it contributes to racial stereotypes. If you took away the name officially, you would still have racial stereotypes and racism just as much. The term is just a name, take away my name and I am still me. And those who don't like me, still won't like me.

With that said, on a national level, I think it matters as much as whether I wear a polo or a t-shirt tomorrow.